2. Sign-in with or create your Microsoft Account (eg: Hotmail, Outlook, or your Shibboleth academic login). On the Academic Verification page, select the best verification option for yourself, fill in the necessary data, and click Verify and then Continue. See here for more details instructions on account setup.

Step 1. Setup Your Free Microsoft Azure Account

1. With your verified account you can now start downloading Microsoft Azure

Step 2. Create a WordPress Blog

3. Click Web App, enter a unique URL for your blog. Then enter a unique name in the AppService Plan and the Resource Group. Change the location to where you are and leave all other settings to their default values

4. Click Database, then Legal Terms, then click OK to all open blades, and now click Create

5. You’ll see the following notifications and after a few minutes your new blog will be ready to go

3. Finish configuring your blog by selecting the default language, completing the form and Install WordPress

4. Your blog is now fully configured and ready for you to start making it your own. In the following learning cards, we’ll go through customizing your site. We’ll setup up a theme, add pages and content, and publishing live on the web.

Step 4. Give Your WordPress Blog a New Look

1. Go to http://yourblogname.azurewebsites.net and login. If you’re not taken to the WordPress dashboard after logging in, locate the button in the upper left hand area of the page, hover over it and click Dashboard. You can also go to it directly: http://yourblogname.azurewebsites.net/wp-admin

2. Click Customize Your Site and then click Change on the Active theme

3. Once you’ve selected a theme you like, go through each of the remaining settings and adjust the options to best fit the content you’ll be sharing. Once you have everything set the way you like it, click Save & Activate

4. If you didn’t find a theme you like, you can install more to your site. Return to your dashboard, click Appearance and Add New Theme. Find something you like, and click Install and it will be added to your site

Step 5. Create Your First Blog

1. Go to http://yourblogname.azurewebsites.net and login. If you’re not taken to the WordPress dashboard after logging in, locate the button in the upper left hand area of the page, hover over it and click Dashboard. You can also go to it directly: http://yourblogname.azurewebsites.net/wp-admin

2. Click Write your first blog post to open the editor

3. Complete the post by filling in the blanks. And you can either save the draft, preview the post, or publish it so others can see it. For more information, go to https://codex.wordpress.org/Posts_Add_New_Screen

4. Once you publish your post, it’s live on the web and anyone can view it by going to http://yourblogname.azurewebsites.net